The Motueka Star PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS. "Te Oranga Moti Iwi." TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 1901.

Motueka Star, Volume I, Issue 15, 1 October 1901, Page 2

The Motueka Star PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS. "Te Oranga Moti Iwi." TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 1901.

At the last meeting of the Motueka Boi-ough Council, the necessity of appointing a.r. overseer -was again referred to by Cr Rankin, who asserted that had the Corporation selected a responsible person for the position twelve" months ago, his salary would have been more than saved by the system of economy and supervision he would have brought into existence It must be patent to the burgesses, as well as members of the Council, that the present system, or want of system, is bad in practice. The "Works Committee meet, considei- the questions of repairing and looking after roads, ditches, etc., and by an agreement, often broken if we can believe the members, the work is overlooked by the member in whose territory it happens to be. This simply means that when, through inclement weather or other causes, jobs.

are required to be done in two places at once the "divided authority comes into evidence, and the men employed by the Corporation are ordered here and there by the various members of the Committee. The result of this is that when the Committee meet.-, complaints are heard that one por.tion of the borough gets more than its share of attention, whilst another 1 icahty is neglected. Really, no other condition of things can be looked for. To our mind, the whole difficulty can be avoided by the appointment of a competent overseer, who would receive full instructions from the Chairman of the "Works Committee, to whom fortnigbt- . ly, or monthly, reports could be sent. lyie would also have charge of the Blone breaker, which should not be tinkered with, "by amateur engineers who may possibly have a profound knowledge of theoretical engineering but who are mere babes and sucklings when practical acquaintance is needed. No doubt, in the first instance Councillors were actuated by a worthy desire to run the affairs of the Corporation with as little outlay as possible, and so save the imposition of heavy rates ; the past year's experience, lioavever, has not been satisfactory in this direction, and we feel sure if one of the members tabled a motion advocating the appointment of a man to supervise the work of the Borough, he would find his action approved of by the ratepayers, and judging from what has transpired at Committee and Council meetings of late, the members, as a body, would favor the motion.

The trout fishing season opens to-day. Several prominent disciples of Izaac Walton have come over from Nelson, fullv .equipped with the most approved fishing "gear, to try their luck in our waters. We hope to have the pleasure of recording some miraculous hauls, and to acknowledge the receipt cf some of the spotted beauties for home consumption, As the Nelson Mail frequently says, verb. sap. The collection of the agricultural and pastoral statistics of the colony is to be made between 14th October and 9th November next. Mr 0. J. Bartlett, builder and contractor, has a business notice in outadvertising columns, to which we direct the attention of our readers. The adjourned meeting of the Motueha Masonic L:>dge will be held on Wednesday evening, when tiie election of* officers for the ensuing year will be held: . We again remind the fruit growers of this locality of the adjourned meeting to be held in the Church of England school room this evening to consider the advisability of joining the Nelson Fruit Grower's Union, which is to be formed in Nelson during the present month. Wo are informed the canvass made by Mr Batt, on behalf of the Union was most successful, and that the.-e is every likelihood of the Union baing widely supported in this district. The following are the vital statistics registered during the month of September, for the Motueka district, as ■kppliod by the Registrar, Mr Tarrant: W— Births 4, marriages nil, deaths 8. Mr Harkness, chief Inspector for the Nelson Education Board, commenced the annual examination of the local schools on Monday morning. Mr Thomas Rise, Government Inspector of Post Offices is at present on an official visit to Motueka. The opening of the cricket Season takes place to-morrow when a friendly game will be played between teams vi-.mi Motueka and Riwaka. We have received a- copy of the New Zealand Dairyman, a monthly publicat >a which is,, as its name indicates,

dev..ted t> the dissemination of information appertaining to dairying and other farm industries. The editor and proprietor is Mr John Sawers, formerly a Government dairy expert, and as may be expected, the publication is highly spoken of, especially in the North Island, the home cf dairying. We publish an article from its columns in tms is-ue, \\i~A\ refeieace to the bacon indmtry.

A letter signed "Disgusted" having reference to the condition of the footpaths in the Borough has been received, The principal defect having been attended to there is no occasion to publish it, We have also received another contribution about the "Backwater Road Board" which will appear on Friday. It is notified in our advertising columns that a public meeting in connection with the New Zealand Farmer's Union will be held by Mr Fisher, the assistant organising secretary, at the Church cf England school room on Wednesday evening, and at Upper Moutere on Thursday night. On our fourth page will be noticed an article in connection with the establishment of this Union. We expect to see a large attendance of farmers at the meeting. The New Zealand times says: — It is understood that the conditonal arrangements have been made by a syndicate in the South Island for the purchase of the steamer Te Kapu, now trading to the Sounds, and belonging to the Golden Bay and Sounds Steamship Company. The chief items of the ,£2o,ooocharged for the reviews and massing of troops at the various centres-at the time of the Royal visit are approximately : Cost of conveyance by sea or land other than on Government railways, .£7OOO ; rations, L 5900 ; net payment to troops after deduction of rations, L'7,900. This is a rough estimate. The general expenses for the royal visit included:— Railway fares and freights to Rotorua L 3700 ; steamer fares and freights, L 584 3s 8d ; food, camp attendance, L 2971 10s; tents, L6ll 2s 3d; travelling expenses, L17512511d ; medals for school children, LI 157; Parliamentary reception, including luncheon and dinners, LIB4B.

The Agricultural Department is sending a copy of the Dairy Commissioner's last report to every dairy factory mannger and every supplier of milk to a, dairy factory in the colony, with th. 3 object of bringing under general notice Mr Kinsella's remarks on the aeration of milk, etc.. Ten thousand copies of the report have been printedNotice to Breeders. —At the request of a large number of settlers in this locality, the -services of the well known thoroughbred horse Verscilles have been secured for the forthcoming season. The horse will visit Motueka, Riwaka, Pangatotara, Upper and Lower Moutere and other localities, and as the animal's pedigree is of the best, his services should be in demand. — Advt.